Gender equality across OECD countries set back due to the pandemic
The progress towards gender equality in the workplace in member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is being set back by at least two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In PwC’s Women in Work Index, about 4.3 million women became unemployed at the height of the pandemic. Meanwhile, female labor force participation was down by 69% compared to pre-pandemic levels.
In pay gaps, South Korea recorded the highest gender pay gap at 32%. On the other hand, the pay disparity between genders is the lowest in Luxembourg with only one per cent.
PwC stated that the increase of women employment rates across EOCD — to match that of Sweden — could boost the organization’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by US$6 trillion per year.
Meanwhile, ending the gender pay gap issue could boost the earnings of female employees by US$2 trillion per year.
With the pandemic, PwC noted that it would take at least 63 years to close the gender pay gap in any workplace across OECD.
